My son's 02 Monte Carlo has been leaking somewhere and it is getting worse. Water is only in the passenger side front floorboard. It appears that water is running between the windshield and cowl. We were brainstorming about it yesterday and realized that it started leaking after Jiffy Lube pulled the cabin filter and tried to sell us a new one. Last night I pulled the cowl and sure enough the water is running between the cown and windshield then into the cabin filter through the fan and into the floor. The owner's manual stated to remove the air deflector after removing the cowl to remove the filter but there was nothing there. I'm thinking that maybe the "mechanic" at Jiffy Lube left off the air deflector and that is why it is now leaking.Can anyone confirm if there is a deflector that goes over the cabin filter.

 

My car is a 2006 but I believe the cabin air filter setup is the same as a 2002.I changed the filter myself and there is a black plastic flap about the size of the filter that clips to the cowl.If I remember correctly it is about 1/16" thick.When it is installed it slopes down towards the front,which would keep the water out of the filter.

 

open the hood.
pass side
on the cowl you will see a rubber peice of weather striping that you need to remove. part way it is not glued there just snaps in to place
take the washer fluid hose out of its clips just int he corner.
now take out the belive it is three plastic screws right there and the corner part of the plastic cowl will coem off . ( WIND DEFLECTOR)
the filter is down in there and you need to pull out and up to get it out. and not so easy to get back in sometimes but they are not to bad.

Also you can go to auto zone and get a new one for less then 20.00 in most cases.

when i worked at Jiffy lube LOOOOONG time ago those were just starting to come out and we would hear the guys on top talk about how they would put them in wrong becus ethe custumer would not buy one and some would even put the washer hose in to them and crip it enough to cause it to crak so when you used the wippers and washers it would fill that thing full of water.

If this is the case take it back and get a manger and make sure they clean out all of the moister as it will mold down in there and cause him to have bad smells and also other related crap with mold. also in the carpet to.

 

I took it off last night to look at it. If water runs between the cowl and windshield it runs straight down into the filter which was wet. I really can't get a good answer from any of the Chevrolet dealers. I think I will call a couple of junkyards tomorrow to see if any of them have an 02 that i can look at and buy the part from them if there is one that is missing. One parts department guy told me that the only thing keeping the water out is the small rubber weatherstrip on the underside of the cowl. If that is the case, it sure is a bad design. If I find that there is a part missing, I fully plan on going to Jiffy Lube personally to inform them about it and that none of our five vehicles that they change the oil in will be back. I don't think they like me very much anyway as I never buy their filters, light bulgs, etc. and tell them repeatedly that all I want is my oil changed. I even started bringing my own oil filter for my Dodge Cummins since they told me that they did not use Fram filters and I found one on my truck. I even have to tell them to leave the air pressure alone on my truck as they put 55psi in all four tires and I run 80psi in the rear to pull my 5er. Anyway, I guess enough ranting for tonight.